immortality to light." God, the Father, had veiled the sun, that the earth should be in utter darkness. May it not have been the first act of His son's immortality—after this tragic scene—to unveil the sun, and throw its light—under a new dispensation—upon the world? But he had come to conquer "death, hell, and the grave," "and lead captivity captive." His body was placed in a sepulchre; from whence he had said he would rise on the third day. The Priests and Pharisees remembering this, besought Pilate, who commanded that the sepulchre be made secure, which was done by a great stone under seal, and a guard stationed over it, that no one might approach by day or by night. But, behold, on the morning of the third day, an "angel of the Lord appeared from heaven," whose descent caused a great earthquake, who "rolled back the stone and sat upon it; and his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow; and for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men." The angel said unto the two Marys, "I know ye seek Jesus, which was crucified; He is not here, for he is risen."

Thus, behold his triumph! He burst the bands of death asunder, and rushing forth from the tyrant's grasp, shouted in triumph over this last enemy, "Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy victory?" "I am the resurrection and the life." "I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of hell and of death." Thus the fulfilment of prophesy and the promise, that he should become the first fruits of them that slept.

We have subsequent evidence of his resurrection, where he appeared in the midst of his disciples, when they had met in their private chamber and had closed the door. But there have been doubters, and unbelievers, in all ages—even though confirmative evidences have been strong and plain. So, also, was there one in that little assembly. Poor Thomas could not believe, even though his Lord and Master stood before him; but the Saviour, full of tender compassion, said to him: "Come, place thy fingers in the nail prints, and thrust thy hand into the opening made by the soldier's spear in my side, and be not faithless, but believing."

Now while God through his prophet hath said, "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding," revelation is replete with evidence that "though a man die, yet shall he live again." Christ, the Son of God, illustrated his power in uttering the command, "Lazarus, come forth," and he that had been dead four days, whose mortality was fast decomposing and yielding to corruption, arose again into life. Thus in the days of his incarnation, he manifested his power by the miracles he wrought in numerous instances of restoring sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear; the dumb to speak; the lame to walk; healing the sick; cleansing the leprous, and bringing the dead to life again: while, in the power of his own resurrection, he made triumphantly manifest the immortality of the soul; and the entire New Testament scriptures abound with evidences that through Him "life and immortality have been brought to light." Thus we see that the immortality of the soul, and a future state of existence are plainly manifest.

POSSIBILITY OF A MORE INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD; OUR RELATIONS TO HIM,—AND OF A FUTURE STATE OR PLACE OF HABITATION.

We believe that God himself has furnished us evidences through which we should gain a more intimate knowledge of him; of our relations to him, and of our future state and place of habitation.

In sustaining this belief, and the hypothesis we have already advanced, as to the location of heaven,—to which we shall also add our views as to the location of hell,—we shall rely mainly upon the revelations of God, as found recorded in the Bible. Should we not furnish positive, we believe we shall furnish strong circumstancial, evidence which will as forcibly impress the minds of our readers with the correctness of our theory, as it has our own, upon the investigation of it. With this we shall grasp, and intermingle, the evidences afforded by the science of astronomy; the mighty revelations of the wondrous works of God as now revealed to us by the aid of the telescope.

We know that some of the most learned theologians and ablest divines, of the past, as also many of the present age, have written, and have labored hard—theoretically—to point out to the mind's eye the locality of heaven, fixed somewhere in illimitable space. But, as yet, their most profound efforts, aided though they might have been by the lights afforded through the science of astronomy; the Bible, and all nature around them as assistants to their own brilliant imaginations, have failed to satisfy, even themselves, and all has resolved itself back again into doubt and uncertainty, leaving the minds of all bewildered with ideas as numerous, yet as vague and uncertain as mystery itself. And yet we believe we have within, and all around us, evidences which, if properly considered and comprehended, may shed true light upon the subject, and give to us ideas and faith more reasonable and tangible than any heretofore contemplated.

THE CREATION.

Let us now make some investigations of the evidences given us in the Bible in regard to creation. No one ever has, no finite mind ever can fully comprehend the creative power of the Almighty; nor can we form an idea of the time, in the remote past, when creation, "by the word of His power" commenced.

We learn from Bible history, that "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth." Now as to the time when that "beginning" was, we can form no positive idea. It is as reasonable to suppose it to have been untold millions of years ago, as at any later period. So far as this earth on which we dwell is concerned, it is but as an atom when compared to the productions of His creative power; and of the time when this atom was created, no one knoweth. Geologists, tracing effects back to causes, agree on the fair probability that the earth—this globe and its solid elements—have been in process of change and formation, many thousands, and possibly millions, of years. These students understand, in a great measure, the laws which govern and control such formation in nature, and have data for their conclusions. As for the time when God created man to dwell on this earth, we need not now stop to investigate.

But, continuing this history, we read:

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the great deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; and God said, Let there be light; and there was light."

Thus we see that the Spirit of God was then, as it ever has been, and still is, the source of light. Now, to our finite comprehension, the Sun is the source of light and heat; or, rather that which we denominate the Sun is a vast body or volume of intense heat, and heat—or that which we denominates fire—is, to us, the source of light. That God's spirit is fire, and light, we shall be able to show in our further contemplation of the subject

The Psalmist tells us that:

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth."

Job tells us that:

"A flame goeth out of his mouth and God by his spirit garnished the heavens."